Americans love pizza. Just count the number of pizza eateries you see on your way home from work tonight. But like so many other dishes, these beloved pies came from somewhere else.

“It’s connected with history. Neapolitan pizza is the ‘mother pie,’ the first pizza,” said Peppe Miele, president and operations coordinator for the American delegation of the Verace Pizza Napoletana Association, which has its offices in Marina del Rey. He explained that when people emigrated from Italy to the United States, they brought their cuisine with them. The process of making pizzas and the ingredients changed over time, but “It became an American treasure.”

VPN was founded in the United States in 1994 to support and foster traditional Neapolitan pizza here.

“The goal of the organization is not just to promote this product in the real version, but to show the world that you don’t have to be Neapolitan to make this product — anyone can make it,” Miele said.

Neapolitan pizzas stand out from the pack with thin, doughy crusts and fresh toppings, many of which have been imported from Italy. They are cooked in 60-90 seconds at 900 degrees or hotter in a wood-burning oven.

VPN is on five continents and boasts 500 members. Eleven new California eateries recently have been certified for offering authentic Neapolitan pizza, with four in Southern California: Settebello Pizzeria Napoletana in Pasadena, Ugo in Culver City, Fuoco Pizzeria Napoletana in Fullerton and Pizza e Vino in Rancho Santa Margarita. The other pizza restaurants winning certification this year are in San Francisco, Napa, San Diego, Mountain View, Palo Alto and Twain Harte.

Restaurants apply for membership, but must go through an intensive examination process to assure that their pizzas are authentic, from start to finish, prior to certification. VPN provides support to prospective members in the form of education, including cooking classes.

VPN also reaches out to young chefs, hoping to ensure their success.

“It’s very important to understand that this organization,” Miele said. “We don’t make any statement saying that this is the best pizza, we just try to promote the heart of the pizza. We want to maintain the tradition of all the making of the product and give it to the new generation.”

At 21, Sergio Angula is head chef at Settebello Pizzeria Napoletana in Pasadena and very passionate about the traditional pies. And he has worked hard to learn the craft of making them.

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“It’s a lot of training, and not a lot of people can do it. I know people who picked it up in months and people who have been doing it for years and they still don’t get it,” Angula said.

The biggest challenge for him is that the pizza must have authentic toppings, so Angula can’t “go crazy” like chefs at nontraditional eateries.

“There’s a thin line between what you want to serve and what you can serve,” Angula said. “I’m not Italian, I’m American, but I love everything about Italy. It’s just doing a good job, having good pizzaiolos, good toppings, you’re going to make a good pizza.”

Ugo Pascarella owns Ugo in Culver City. His family was from Italy and growing up, he vacationed there.

“It was always one of the highlights for me, going back to Naples and having that pizza and you couldn’t find it anywhere here,” Pascarella said.

He opened his restaurant nine years ago, but it wasn’t until its remodel last year that Pascarella could share his love of Neapolitan pizza with his customers by installing a wood-burning oven.

Ugo’s best-selling pie is the Margherita.

“It’s the standard traditional pizza. It was named after Queen Margherita,” Pascarella said. “She asked them to make something special for her, so they ended up making that pizza. It’s to represent the Italian flag with the colors, the green, white and red — green basil, white cheese and red tomato.”

The Margherita is also the top pie at Fuoco Pizzeria Napoletana in Fullerton, where the wood oven is the focal point of the restaurant’s layout.